Greece in Economic Despair

After many bail-out programs and austerity reforms imposed by ”the Trojka”, Greece’s economy seems to be more stable than it has been in the past years. The country’s economy is expected to grow by 1,8% next year and the government is projected to have a budget surplus of 1,75 percent. However, the current economic situation is still very concerning. Around 23 percent of it’s workforce is unemployed and it had 7 horrible years of recession which has left a big impact on it’s population. Since poverty is increasing by the day, the United Nations warn for a humanitarian crisis.

The IMF argues that Greece’s public debt of €330bn is unsustainable. The idea of debt relief seems to be out of the question, as solidarity between Northern and Southern member states is low. Many economists claim that the lack of solidarity between member states is one of the main reasons the structure of the Eurozone is doomed to fail.

We will discuss this with Leonidas Chrysanthopoulos former Greek ambassador and Phillipe Legrain who is a British political economist and author of the book: “European Spring: Why Our Economies and Politics are in a Mess – and How to Put Them Right”.